1. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.

2.Communism a. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people. b. The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.

[French communisme, from commun, common, from Old French, from Latin commūnis. See commune.

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Communism

Communism, concept or system of society in which the major resources and means of production are owned by the community rather than by individuals. Theoretically, communist societies provide for equal sharing of all work, according to ability, and all benefits, according to need. As a concept of an ideal society, communism is derived from ancient sources. In the early 1800s the idea of a communist society was a response to modern capitalism by the poor and the dislocated. Later, the term was reserved for the philosophy advanced by German revolutionary theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their Communist Manifesto.

In their writings, Marx and Engels described human history as the attempt to control nature in order to improve the human condition. In the development of human productive forces, social institutions were created that introduced exploitation, domination, and other evils. Engels and Marx believed that the capitalist system would also destroy itself, culminating in a revolution in which the poor would rebel against their oppressors, do away with private ownership, and eliminate inequalities and coercive government. Marx and Engels expected this would happen in the most highly industrialized nations. However, communists have come to power in nations that lacked the preconditions Marx and Engels considered essential.

The first of these countries was Russia, which became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) following the Russian Revolution (1917). When the Communist Party emerged victorious, it was faced with the need to modernize the Soviet economy and transform the country into a major military power. The Soviet leadership was ruthless in marshaling human and material resources for these tasks. The resulting system has been labeled totalitarianism or Stalinism, after Joseph Stalin, the leader who controlled the USSR for more than a quarter of a century. Stalinism scarcely resembled the communist utopia that Marx and Engels had envisioned. Three decades after Stalin’s death, the USSR remained a society administered in authoritarian fashion by a managerial bureaucracy.

To the West, the Soviet Communist government appeared as a threat, and from the beginning attempts were made to destroy it by force. In its endangered position, the Communist regime tried to establish workable relations with other countries. Between 1945 and 1975 the number of countries under Communist rule increased greatly, partly because of the way the victorious powers in World War II had divided the world, and partly because revolutionary Communist movements were gaining strength in the Third World. By the early 1980s the USSR had become the world’s second-ranking industrial power. However, it soon became apparent that Soviet Communism was in crisis. By the end of 1991 rapid political change had led to the collapse of Communist governments in Eastern Europe, the USSR, and elsewhere.

dialectical materialism

dialectical materialism (dĪ´ə-lĕkʹtĭ-kəl mə-tîrʹē-ə-lĭz´əm) noun
The Marxian interpretation of reality that views matter as the sole subject of change and all change as the product of a constant conflict between opposites arising from the internal contradictions inherent in all events, ideas, and movements.

change

change (chānj) verbchanged, chang·ing, chang·es

verb, transitive

1.a. To cause to be different: change the spelling of a word.b. To give a completely different form or appearance to; transform: changed the yard into a garden.

2. To give and receive reciprocally; interchange: change places.

3. To exchange for or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category: change one’s name; a light that changes colors.

1. To become different or undergo alteration: He changed as he matured.

2. To undergo transformation or transition: The music changed to a slow waltz.

3. To go from one phase to another, as the moon or the seasons.

4. To make an exchange: If you prefer this seat, I’ll change with you.

5. To transfer from one conveyance to another: She changed in Chicago on her way to the coast.

6. To put on other clothing: We changed for dinner.

7. To become deeper in tone: His voice began to change at age 13.noun

1. The act, process, or result of altering or modifying: a change in facial expression.

2. The replacing of one thing for another; substitution: a change of atmosphere; a change of ownership.

3. A transformation or transition from one state, condition, or phase to another: the change of seasons.

4. Something different; variety: ate early for a change.

5. A different or fresh set of clothing.

6.Abbr.chg.a. Money of smaller denomination given or received in exchange for money of higher denomination. b. The balance of money returned when an amount given is more than what is due. c. Coins: had change jingling in his pocket.

7.Music. A pattern or order in which bells are rung.

8. A market or exchange where business is transacted.

– phrasal verb.change off

1. To alternate with another person in performing a task.

2. To perform two tasks at once by alternating or a single task by alternate means.

– idiom.change hands
To pass from one owner to another.change (one’s) mind
To reverse a previously held opinion or an earlier decision.change (one’s) tune
To alter one’s approach or attitude.

[Middle English changen, from Norman French chaunger, from Latin cambiāre, cambīre, to exchange, probably of Celtic origin.]

di·a·lec·tic

di·a·lec·tic (dī´ə-lĕkʹtĭk) nounAbbr.dial.

1. The art or practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments.

2.a. The process especially associated with Hegel of arriving at the truth by stating a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis, and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis. b. Hegel’s critical method for the investigation of this process.

3.a. Often dialectics(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The Marxian process of change through the conflict of opposing forces, whereby a given contradiction is characterized by a primary and a secondary aspect, the secondary succumbing to the primary, which is then transformed into an aspect of a new contradiction. b. The Marxian critique of this process.

4.dialectics(used with a sing. verb) A method of argument or exposition that systematically weighs contradictory facts or ideas with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions.

5. The contradiction between two conflicting forces viewed as the determining factor in their continuing interaction.

[Middle English dialetik, from Old French dialetique, from Latin dialectica, logic, from Greek dialektikē (tekhnē), (art of) debate, from dialektos, speech, conversation. See dialect.]

– di´a·lecʹti·cal or di´a·lecʹticadjective– di´a·lecʹti·cal·lyadverb

PHILOSOPHY

Dialectic

Dialectic, in philosophy, method of investigating the nature of truth by critical analysis of concepts and hypotheses. In his Dialogues, Greek philosopher Plato studied truth through discussions based on questions and answers. Greek philosopher Aristotle frequently used the term as a synonym for the science of logic. German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel believed that ideas evolve when a concept gives rise to its opposite and a third view, or synthesis, arises. German political philosopher Karl Marx applied the concept of dialectic to social and economic processes.

Globalism

Illuminati

il·lu·mi·na·ti

il·lu·mi·na·ti (ĭ-l´mə-näʹtē) pl.n.

1. People claiming to be unusually enlightened with regard to a subject.

2.Illuminati Any of various groups claiming special religious enlightenment.

[Latin pl. of illūminātus, past participle of illūmināre, to illuminate. See illuminate.]

War

See also: Sun Szu – The Art of War.

war

war (wôr) noun

1.a. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties. b. The period of such conflict. c. The techniques and procedures of war; military science.

2.a. A condition of active antagonism or contention: a war of words; a price war.b. A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious: the war against acid rain.verb, intransitivewarred, war·ring, wars

1. To wage or carry on warfare.

2. To be in a state of hostility or rivalry; contend.

– idiom.at war
In an active state of conflict or contention.

[Middle English warre, from Old North French werre, of Germanic origin.]

Word History: A piece of liverwurst may perhaps help us gain some insight into the nature of war, at least into the semantic history of the word war. War and the -wurst part of liverwurst can be traced back to the same Indo-European root, wers-,“to confuse, mix up.” In the Germanic family of the Indo-European languages, this root gave rise to several words having to do with confusion or mixture of various kinds. In the case of the ancestry of war, the hypothetical Germanic stem ·werza-,“confusion,” became ·werra-, which passed into Old French, a language descended from spoken Latin but supplemented by more than 200 words borrowed from the Frankish invaders of the 5th century. From the Germanic stem came both the form werre in Old North French, the form borrowed into English in the 12th century, and guerre (the source of guerilla) in the rest of the Old French-speaking area. Both forms meant “war,” a very confused condition indeed. Meanwhile another Indo-European form derived from the same Indo-European root had developed into Old High German wurst, meaning “sausage,” from an underlying sense of “mixture,” which is, of course, related to the sense of the root “to confuse, mix up.” Modern German wurst was borrowed into English in the 19th century, first by itself (recorded in 1855) and then as part of the word liverwurst (1869), the liver being a translation of German leber in leberwurst.

LAW

War

War, in international law, armed conflict between two or more governments or states. When such conflicts assume global proportions, they are known as world wars. War between different parts or factions of the same nation is called civil war. International hostilities sometimes continue for long periods of time without being acknowledged as wars. The Korean War (1950-1953) was regarded by the United States government as a police action. International wars are generally terminated by treaty, and civil wars by a peace proclamation. The usages, customs, and treaties of nations have formed a system of laws of war.